Hotel du Paradis

_Hotel du Paradis_ finds out-of-towner Marie (Caroline Ducey) revisiting the guestroom in which her son was conceived 15 years ago. Everything has changed. The place is run down, now rented by the month to aging welfare recipients. The father of her son, a feckless musician, still lives nearby but is hard to reach. Marie, in her elegant garb, looks hopelessly out of place; she is befriended by 50-year-old Paul (sad sack Claude Berne, also the writer-director) harboring his own sorrows.

The film has a bittersweet, platonic tone. There is no murder mystery (well, maybe at the very end) but it reminds me of Wim Wenders's _Million Dollar Hotel_, home to its own misfits and one very glamorous lady. Ducey, her hair dyed a dark blond, her wide smile dominating a long angular face, her movement graceful like a dancer's, also reminds me of Wenders's muse Solveig Dommartin. Neither Ducey nor Dommartin is recognized as a great actress, but their signature work with Catherine Breillat and Wenders/Claire Denis respectively, has cemented their place in cinematic history. Here Ducey is amazingly good. Her plaintive, wide-eyed expressions belie the tragedy beneath the surface. Berne does an excellent job catching the different facets of her face, and the mood swings. Death and despair pervade the proceedings (the owner played by Zirek is being pressured to sell the hotel), but the story boast a defiant, light-hearted mood because of its enigmatic and sympathetic characters. Despite their own problems they open up to each other and share burdens. There isn't much more to the film, shot with a very low budget, and the ending is unconvincing. But it is enough.